Tag Archives: Andrew Breitbart

“On Wednesday, April 18, at approximately 16:00 Eastern Time, U.S. Federal authorities removed a server from a colocation facility shared by Riseup Networks and May First/People Link in New York City. The seized server was operated by the European Counter Network (“ECN”), the oldest independent internet service provider in Europe, who, among many other things, provided an anonymous remailer service, Mixmaster, that was the target of an FBI investigation into the bomb threats against the University of Pittsburgh.”

See, without the help from Anonymous, the Occupy movement would not have gotten off the ground. This is why the creators went to Anonymous first. Then a funny thing happened-they (Anonymous) kept breaking the law. Now the two groups are one in the same in the eyes of investigators. And since everyone was “anonymous” they had to treat everyone in the groups as a potential suspect. Nice job guys.

Rule 1# in Fed seizures: Come up with a good enough excuse to seize something even though you are looking for something else. Solving the bomb threats is plausible and noble. But I know what they are looking for…

In Andrew Breitbarts last interview he specifically cited the Occupy’s involvement with Michael Moore and also Anonymous. This wasnt a mystery. The troubling aspect was that activists had turn to the technique of SWAT’ing their opponents to silence them. Breitbart specifically makes reference to an incident in New Jersey as well as another California involving a District Attorney. So we are going to take this one at a time. First, Michael and the Occupy Movement came in the middle of the criminal activity. But here is a post from the Riseup mailing lists for posterity. Then below we will get to the meat of this.

MichaelMoore.com just put an alert at the top of the site:
DO SOMETHING Tuesday:
Stand with Occupy!
Join rallies against police suppression of OCCUPY at 4:00 PM
local time in New York City, Chicago, Houston, Cleveland,
Minneapolis/St. Paul and Hollywood
with a link.
Anonymous tweeted to its 540K followers, including a link to the youtube
on dontsuppressows.org. Which is good!
Anonymous ‏ @AnonySwingRT YourAnonNews : #DontSuppressOWS rallies nationwide on Feb 28 |
is.gd/B8axRV | VIDEO: youtu.be/2xMxzGEDQh4 | Follow hash #F28 ...
********************************************************************************************************

Or just look at the Occupy Olympia contact page-points right to Riseup. occupyolympia[dot]org/contact

*************************************************************************************************************************
The Michael Moore angle is not relevant to the seizure. The point that I am trying to make is that law enforcement was already closing in. (And we have seen a good number of arrests already) Too many victims and the crimes were getting serious. i.e. the SWATtings, the bitcoin heist, the hacks of databases, releasing personal and sensitive information, and the money trail (Stay tuned for details on that)

Andrew Breitbart Last Interview on Hugh HewittListen to the audio. In the last minutes of the show Andrew describes the conundrum; how he has become a priority target of the group. One blog that has published all the details about their SWATTing, and Breitbart makes specific reference to is Crying Wolfe

So back to my original point. A few bad anonymous apples increased the scope of the investigation. Now everyone is a target. If they solve the bomb threats, good for them. But investigators and prosecutors we’rent really after Al Capone for tax evasion. BUt now Riseup, who was really nothing more than a group of activists got pulled in. That sucks for them and I guarantee 99.9% of the people involved in Riseup had nothing to do with any of the crimes that were committed; including the convenient excuse of needing to track down these bomb threats. But again, thats an excuse. They want to track down the crimes that actually happened

My point proven further into the press release:

“We sympathize with the University of Pittsburgh community who have had to deal with this frightening disruption for weeks. We oppose such threatening actions. However, taking this server won’t stop these bomb threats. The only effect it has is to also disrupt e-mail and websites for thousands of unrelated people,” continues Mr. Theriot-Orr. “Furthermore, the network of anonymous remailers that exists is not harmed by taking this machine. So we cannot help but wonder why such drastic action was taken when authorities knew that the server contained no useful information that would help in their investigation.”

“Frightening”, and “oppose such threatening actions”. Yeah…how do you think Crying Wolfe felt when he was dragged out of his house at gun point by police for retweeting something?

End Note: Barrett Brown is being a punk again; he cant help it. I’ll be addressing this later today.

I got a call early this morning. Andrew Breitbart passed away at age 43. I swore it was a hoax so I sent a text message to a mutual friend and he said “No way” and informed me that he was on the phone with him last night. I then sent another text message to someone he loves and trusts; she confirmed it was “No hoax, he’s gone.”

My editor at Yahoo asked me to write a piece on him which I am honored to do. Look for it later today. (Done-See above) In the meantime some proper parting words…

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (Phillipians 4:8)

PS: I made a blog post here a short time ago thanking Andrew to which he responded to and thanked me back via Twitter. And I am glad that I had done it when I did.

Most riffs between public figures are short lived and usually die out slowly with an uneventful fizzle. But the Glenn Beck problem seems to be getting worse and the only person holding him accountable, regarding anything substantial, is Andrew Breitbart.

“He’s dead to me” – Breitbart regarding Beck

Take a listen to Breitbart’s appearance on Stephen K. Bannon’s Victory Sessions excerpt here. While I usually do not endorse the circular firing squad Andrew is, and has been, totally justified on the topics he addresses. And to date Beck has not had the integrity to even attempt to set the record straight.

The latest issue with Beck comes from comments he made regarding Tea Party support for Newt Gingrich on Judge Napolitano’s Freedom Watch. Beck makes the comparison that since Gingrich is a Progressive, much like Obama, then the only justification for this support is obviously based on race. It is truly despicable. I advise you to watch the video at here at Big Government. Andrew also rails on Beck, and rightly so, for throwing him under the bus regarding the Shirley Sherrod incidentas well as revisiting the slimeball tactics of stealing bloggers work and giving no attribution. This part of the story affects me personally as I was one of the bloggers that Beck didnt just borrow my work but straight out plagiarized seven paragraphs from my article with no reference to the source.

The expose was done by The Daily Caller’s Matthew Boyle and listed off an embarrassing number of incidents where Beck had lifted material from others. All your favorites are listed as victims: Pajama’s Media, Rebel Pundit, Media Research Center (MRC), Mandy Nagy (Liberty Chick), Verum Serum, Pamella Geller, and yours truly. [You can read about Beck and Staff plagiarism here] Two days prior Glenn Beck had featured my article regarding the collusion between the State Department and Egyptian activists on his nationally syndicated radio show [Video Here]. This was the only time he gave any attribution; after that is was plagiarism and low level ripoff. Furthermore my series on Egypt and the State Department’s activities in fomenting a revolution showed that others were concerned their actions would trigger such an event. It was so explosive that it formed the foundation of Beck’s week-long tv special. There again my work was lifted with no attribution. It was a terrible shame because I couldve advised them and covered important details that they missed.

A Special Thanks to Andrew

I wanted to thank Andrew for two reasons. First and foremost for taking the time to give me an interview on his book “Righteous Indignation.” My page views and the payment I received for the interview from Yahoo News made up for the page views I lost due to Beck’s plagiarism. However, I think the best part of our conversation came when Andrew told me exactly what he was thinking when it came down to brass tacks. He stood up for his writers, and other writers that he did not even know, because it was the right thing to do. He could’ve easily brushed aside Becks trespasses, lies, and ethical violations to absorb a possibly larger following by just hopping out from underneath the Beck Bus and getting on board. Instead he pulled himself out from underneath the bus and chased it down the street punching the windows out. The audience can get his feelings about this verbatim from the 4th part of our conversation here. (Included is the video of Beck’s immature response-a must see)

More importantly I wanted to thank Andrew for keeping up the fight. This has been going on for nearly a year now. With the way that Andrew addresses these issues you would think it happened yesterday. And every time he he revisits these injustices from the “coward” he brings all of us who have been wronged along with him and relights the fire. For me to address my issue alone sounds like another blogger whining; something I have done fairly well with avoiding here. With Andrew sticking to his guns he fights along side of me and the others who had the displeasure of crossing paths with Beck and his dishonest campaign to make himself the center of attention; at any cost. And that is where the difference lies. Beck’s fight is to save face and maintain the facade of an influential personality in the political spectrum. Andrew is the true influential personality because no facade would suit him nor would there be time to construct one proper. He is too wrapped up in fighting the good fight all while leading with his chin. This thank you was long overdue.

On March 26 of this year we reported on Al Qaeda stealing surface to air missiles (SAM’s) from munitions depots in Libya. Moammar Gaddafi in an act of desperation opened up munitions depots. His intention was to let his supporters arm themselves. Instead Al-Qaeda Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) ended up acquiring everything from shoulder-fire man portable units to old Soviet SCUDS. From our March 26th report (“When did Officials know? Al Qaeda Steals Libyan Missiles”):

“Someone is not being totally honest. On March 25, 2011 AFP (via Breitbart.com) reported a story of Justice Secretary Ken Clarke warning of another Lockerbie style attack. This was a very specific warning considering the broad scope of possible threats to civilians. Thats because Clarke and other officials had already received the report of Al-Qaeda stealing nearly 100 Surface to Air Missiles from Libyan munition dumps.”

The day after we began to investigate the claims leaders in Niger and Chad had tried to alert the press of the theft; also included in our report in the above links. They were ignored. For the past 5 months the media largely ignored all claims of SAM thefts. But now that the turmoil has settled down the confirmation of the missing missiles is now coming to light.

Also in our March report the main concern was the current No-Fly zone imposed by NATO. This tactic would push commercial airliners away from central north Africa. In doing so the north shores would have a much more crowded airspace with more planes. All of which would become easy targets for any radical with a shiny new SAM. The revamping of Sudanese Air Traffic Control addressed these concerns; something we referenced in our initial report. In the reports below we finally see the news agencies addressing this issue as a plausible threat and serious concern; 5 months later. The main stream media has seen the tarnishing and fine patine of the Arab Spring materialize. Now the news is about the dangerous results produced. The hope of freedom and democracy is barely visible under the quickly corroding surface of the Arab Spring.

Breaking News!! (Not Really) The press starts to investigate claims

Today: Sept. 7 CNN-Exclusive: Libyan Missiles Looted

CNN finally dispatched reporters to cover this lead just 5 months after the original story broke (as referenced above). In the report CNN innacurately cites the number of Libyan SAM’s to be at least 20,000 units. While this is fairly close the real number of working units is more in the range of 12-14 thousand units. CNN also adds that figure in for a little bit of sensationalism. The entire stockpile has not fallen into the hands of Al Qaeda (AQIM). The current figure from on the ground intel operatives is approximately 19 units. Click Image for Video and full report

Strictly Right Radio Co-Host Ben Swenson brought this to my attention. Swenson was the first one that I called in March after meeting with my internal investigative team. On Aug. 25 The Associated Press reported the State Department position that chemical and nuclear material in Libya were secure. Fine. Nukes were not the issue here. After all, Al Qaeda doesnt own haz-mat radiation rated suits so they cant handle the material anyways. The main question at hand was; have Islamic Fundementalists obtained any sophisticated weapons? From the AP report regarding missiles and rockets:

The fate of thousands of rockets is less clear, and other U.S. intelligence officials and counterterrorism experts criticized slow work by State Department to locate and buy back dangerous munitions like the estimated 15,000 to 25,000 shoulder-fired missiles in Gadhafi’s weapons stores.

Two U.S. officials said the prices of such missiles in the region have fallen, suggesting that some of Gadhafi’s weapons may already be reaching the market, though there is no sign that al-Qaida-linked terrorists have managed to buy any.

That was August 25 2011. Do you see how fast things change in the Intelligence community? Compare this report to the CNN one from today. The AP report from August was leaning towards the reality that as long as the nuke material was ok most of the other weapons probably fell under the same status. The State Department echoed this sentiment days later in the daily press briefing. This will be addressed in the next post. I cant give all the good stuff away now :) This barely scratches the surface

Coming up-Behind the Scenes in N. Africa and US Intel Community

In the next installment we will go over:

1) The route that the stolen man portable air defense systems (MANPADS)

2) Where some units are now residing in Sub-Saharan Africa

3) What the State Dept. knew vs. what they told journalists

4) The details of the Intel briefings in the U.K. and the U.S. from March 2011. A true secret intelligence tell-all

5) Destination Gaza: The closest vantage point for radicals to strike Israel

6) Iran attempts to take a leadership role amongst those holding the SAM’s

7) Dismantling SCUD warheads and salvaging parts vs. MANPADs kept in working order

The Pigford scandal and the exposing of billions of dollars of misappropriated (technically fraudulent) payments were made to individuals claiming to be farmers. The payments were made to “farmers” even if they had “attempted to farm”. So wildly fraudulent this is one wonders why there even needs to be a fight over stopping this; considering the evidence revealed in the investigation.

Instead of this being immediately addressed and shutdown politicians are dragging their feet. And this is why I am asking for 2 minutes of your time so you can make a difference. You can familiarize yourself with the investigation, which is now 6 months old, here at Big Government.

YOU CAN STOP THIS

Lee Stranahan, the lead investigator on Pigford, has conducted an interview today with Rep. King on the topic and also provides the link to the petition that I am requesting you, my readers, to sign. Stopping fraud in government seems like a fait accompli to most of us; especially those who follow government closely. However, a real chance to help make a difference has now appeared courtesy of Stranahan’s diligence in this investigation and Breitbart’s willingness to host this developing story exposing ongoing corruption.

You in my audience, have been amazing when it comes to communication and taking action. With the many blogs that I have run in the past this is the only one with a loyal following that developed into great personal relationships. While we have discussed and investigated many issues here this is one that can produce demonstrable results in a relatively short time. And since all of you have been willing to sign up for the longer duration fights I think you will find this cause relieving in the sense that it is happening now, and you can make a difference now. Lets make chops and bacon out of Pigford.